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To be both precise and accurate, factoid also means a brief / tiny bit of trivia. Personally, I seldom (if ever) hear it used how you’re describing.
by boston_clone 5y ago
To be both precise and accurate, factoid also means a brief / tiny bit of trivia.
Personally, I seldom (if ever) hear it used how you’re describing.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y agoYes, in the same way that 'literally' also means 'figuratively', which is to say that colloquial usage of the word is incorrect as regards it's intended meaning. Whether or not that is a useful distinction is subjective.
- boston_clone 5y ago“Literally” has been used figuratively for hundreds of years and is more akin to hyperbole than additional definitions like we see with factoid. I think it’s fair to say that hardlining a correct vs. incorrect distinction with how literally is used today is mostly pointless.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y agoI disagree. By surrendering the meaning of words we lose the ability to communicate precisely. That may well always be a losing battle, linguistic evolution being what it is, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth resisting.
- boston_clone 5y agoYou might be bummed to learn about hyperbole, then. Or anthropomorphisms. Or similes. I guess a silver lining (not literally, of course) is that you're at least aware of the difficulties - good luck!